can anyone help me please

[charmedc]

I am really stuck with my grandmother's real mother and need help desperately...
I have my grandmother's fathers marriage certificate to her step mother but cannot find anything on her real mother nor her birth certificate.
My grandmother's name was Maggie or Margaret Robertson... her father was John Robertson and according to his marriage certificate 1886 in the District of Woodside in the County of Aberdeen was aged 39 and a widower. (he married a Catherine Brown aged 27). I never met my grandmother as I was born in Australia. My half-sister who was born in Scotland said that all she remembers is my grandmother hated her step-mother and ran away to London to become a Magician's assistant.
I do not have a copy of my grandmother's marriage certificate but was given the information that she was born abt 1880 as the information I have she was married in 1901 aged 21 - this being the case Catherine Brown could not have been her mother as she married John Robertson in 1886
I have searched and searched but not knowing the area and nothing about Aberdeen I am lost - can anyone please help me.
thanks heaps
warmest regards
Jacki

[Isabel H]

Have you looked for the family (John, Catherine, and Margaret ) in the 1891 census which is available on Scotlands People? If you can find a census entry for them, it should tell you where Margaret was born and that would help you to find her birth certificate, which will show both her parents' names.

[ferryhill_B_G_Forums]

Hi - I live in Aberdeen, if can be of help?

[Mike_E]

Hi - I live in Aberdeen, if can be of help?

I wondered if you could help me? My 2 X G-Grandfather was born in Aberdeen, and was hoping to find someone who might take a photo or two if they were out and about. if you are willing, PM me and I'll send you the address details I have.
Thanks

Mike

[DebbieAnn]

Ok, first pulled the marriage cert that you have. Says a lot - they were both living together at the time of the marriage (same address). His mother and father were not likely married (James Robertson, Blacksmith, is his reputed father). He was a master tailor. So, in the 1881 census, he was likely either a tailor or an apprentice tailor in the Aberdeen area. So, then pulled the 1881 census - there are only 2 John Robertson's in Aberdeen who were tailors and in his general age range - I assumed with the age difference with his second wife he actually might have been older but fibbed a bit. I also assumed his daughter Maggie might have lied about being 21 at her marriage and being actually younger than that, so she might not yet have been born in 1881. The two John Robertsons lived 1) on Jute Street, and 2) on Marischal Street. The latter (age 37) is living with son John (age 1) and wife Margaret (age 21) and his in-laws Alexander and Elizabeth Hay. This is the most likely, as the other owns a shop and employes several people, so would have been less likely to move between then and his second marriage 5 years later.

Debbie

[DebbieAnn]

Next, went looking for a marriage between John Robertson and Margaret in either Pitsligo, Aberdeen or Peterhead, Aberdeen as these were the places of birth mentioned in the 1881 census. Found their marriage: Margaret Phillip (age 19) to John Robertson, tailor (age 36), both living at 26, Marischal Street, Peterhead, Aberdeen on 31 Dec 1877. His father is listed as James Robertson, Blacksmith - but his mother's name is different: Betsy Taylor instead of Jane Cruckshank. Perhaps he was raised by his father at some point and she was his wife? This does appear to be he, however (the John on Marischal Street in the 1881 census). Don't know how the Hays fit in, either, unless he was actually married once before this as well...

Debbie

[DebbieAnn]

Interestingly, there is a birth for Margaret Brown Hay Robertson in Peterhead, Aberdeen on 17 Aug 1883 to George Robertson, spirit dealer, and Agnes Robertson nee West. Could this be your Maggie? It certainly appears to tie all the names together! Could John have been her uncle, but raised her as his child? Or could George have been her uncle, but taken her as his daughter for record purposes (since John and Catherine weren't yet married?) When did Margaret die - it would have been in Peterhead? Don't know how much I may have helped...

Debbie

[Wirral]

they were both living together at the time of the marriage (same address). His mother and father were not likely married What was the name of the mother of John Robertson on the marriage certificates in 1877 & 1886? If they are not the same, then they may refer to 2 different John Robertsons. Why were John Robertson's mother & father "not likely married"?

[DebbieAnn]

Robertson in Scotland seems to be like Smith in England - they're everywhere! The mother of John on his marriage to Catherine Brown (1886) is given as Jane Cruckshank, but on the marriage of John Robertson to Margaret Phillip (1877) it's Betsy Taylor. They could indeed be two different John Robertsons who were both tailors in the Aberdeen area whose fathers were both James Robertson, a blacksmith. On the 1886 marriage, it states that James Robertson is the 'reputed father' and the mother's name is not given as Robertson followed by her maiden name of Cruckshank, as are married women, but simply as Cruckshank. That lends itself to the belief that Jane was single at the time of the birth but that James Robertson, blacksmith, accepted responsibility for John as his son, as otherwise he would not have been mentioned at all and the birth would have registered John as illegitimate. Perhaps, then, the John Robertsons are the same person, and having taken responsibility James raised him. Betsy may have been a wife of James. Without spending even more money than the 18 pounds (about $50 Cdn) I spent yesterday to find this information, it's going to be hard to tell. But it gives the requester a place to start focusing to find answers. With a name like Robertson, you need a way to whittle down the search, which is why I explained how I narrowed it down in my posts. It may still not be the right person, but at least there is a better way to check this avenue to confirm or rule it out. And it seems reasonable that this may be the right one - he is a tailor in Aberdeen in 1881 (1 of only 2 named John Robertson), there is a Margaret born in the family at about the right time, Margaret's name ties the known wife's name (Brown) and the found John Robertson (living with the elder Hay couple) together... it's worth the requester spending their own money to check it out further.

Debbie

[DebbieAnn]

Ok, spend a little more to check the 1891 census - Margaret (Brown Hays) Robertson, age 7, is living with her widowed mother Agnes who has taken over her late husband's vintner business. She has 2 sisters - Jane (9) and Elizabeth M. (2) as well as 1 half-sister - Agnes West, age 19. John Robertson is a tailor living on Marischal Street with his wife Margaret and 6 children, along with Elizabeth Hay, listed as his mother. The only John Robertson in Woodside in that age range is a mason and has a wife named Jane. So, this Margaret, age 7, appears to be the niece of this John Robertson, tailor. But no wife Catherine of John in sight.

Debbie

[DebbieAnn]

I looked at every Catherine Robertson in Aberdeen age 25 - 40 in the 1891 census. Of the 2 that were married to a John Robertson: 1) John, 44, Catherine, 43, John was a farm servant; 2) John, 36, Catherine, 35, John was a tinsmith. Neither had a child Margaret or Maggie. There was also a 28-yr-old Catherine, married, no husband present, born Mosblack(?), Banffshire, visiting Charles and Mary Lavie; and an unmarried 42-yr-old Catherine, boarding house keeper, born in Aberdeen. As your Margaret ran away to get away from Catherine she should still be living at the time of this census - so must have moved away from Aberdeen after her marriage to tailor John. (Catherine-the-visitor is likely not she, as both age and place of birth are wrong)

Debbie